Timing and alarm mechanism



M. WALTER TIMING AND ALARM MECHANISM July 6, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 7, 1963 July 6, 1965 M. WALTER TIMING AND ALARM MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 7; 1963 necessary consumption of energy.

3,l& 2,7ti TIMING AND ALARM MEQHANESM Marc Waiter, Ery-sur-Marne, France, assignor to Societe I Anonyrne dite: .Faz S.A., laris, France Filed Feb. 7, 19%, Ser. No. 257,812 Claims priority, applicatienFrance, Feb. 16, 1962,

5 Claims. (ill. 53-2tl) signal devices have recently come into use and possess important advantages over the conventional systems wherein the alarm bell is operated by spring power, including elimination of the erstwhile requirement to wind up the alarm bell spring. However, where the power for the alarm bell is supplied by a dry cell battery incorporated in-the alarm clock, the capacity of the power source is necessarily limited and it is desirable to prolong the useful life of the battery between replacements. It would be advantageous for this purpose to limit the time duration of each sounding of the alarm bell so as to avoid un- It has been found in practice that the usual arrangements as used e.g. in present-day alarm clocks, for releasing the alarm device as the hour shaft of the clock reaches an angular position corresponding to the preset time for the alarm, do not lend themselves well to such a limitation of the duration of the alarm signal, especially when it is desired to employ such arrangements for the actuation of an electrical contact.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved timing and alarm mechanism which will be especially useful in connection with alarm clocks embodying electrically operated alarm ignal means. An object is to provide an arrangement whereby the energization of an electric alarm device can be initiated at an accurately determined time presettable in advance and cut oif a predetermined time period later, which period can be made, within reasonable limits, as short or as long as desired. An object is to render said period accurately and easily adjustable. Other objects may appear as the disclosure roceeds.

The invention is directed to timing and alarm mechanism, e.g. alarm clock mechanism, which comprises a casing; an hour plate member and a control plate member and means mounting'said members for coaxial rotation with respect to each other and to said casing and for limited relative axial displacement; means driving said hour member at a uniform angular velocity as a function of time; means for manually presetting said control member to a desired angular position at which an alarm is to sound; spring means biasing said members axially towards each other; a projection extending axially from one of said members into engagement with a side surface of'the other member for riding over said surface as said hour member revolves with time; an aperture formed in said other member in a position to receive said projection of said one member on said hour member being rotated to a, position corresponding to the preset position of the control member; a spring strip secured to the opposite side of said other member and having an edge portion overlapping a generally radial edge surface of said aperture a 3,192,700 Fatented July 6, 1965 small predeterminable circumferential distance into the aperture, said strip being normally spring biased axially towards said other member under a force less than that of said spring means whereby to be displaceable away from said other member by the action of said projection upon said overlapping edge portion as said projection is received into said aperture; an electric contact carried by said strip; an annular contact element carried by said casing coaxially with said members for engagement by said strip contact in the displaced position of the strip; and an alarm circuit including a source of electric power and an alarm signal device connected to said source and to said contacts so as to be energized from said source on engagement of said contacts; whereby the alarm signal device will be energized as said hour member reaches said position corresponding to the preset position of the control member and will be deenergized on expiry of a time lapse determined by the distance of overlap of said edge portion of said other member with respect to said edge surface of the aperture.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described for purposes of illustration but not of limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates in side elevation, with parts broken away and other shown in section, an alarm clock mechanism embodying the invention with so much of the clock movement as is required for an understanding of the disclosure;

PEG. 2 is a side view of the so-called control plate or disc used in the mechanism of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of the control plate illustrating the relationship of the spring strip and aperture thereof.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated part of an alarm-clock movement including a front casing or dial plate 31 and a rear casing plate 32 spaced from plate 31. Extending through a central aperture in front plate 31 is a coaxial assembly of pivot shafts all mounted for rotation relatively to one another and to the clock casing of which the plates 31 and 32 form part. Said coaxial shaft assembly comprises an innermost or minute-hand shaft 33, which is shown as projecting beyond the rear casing plate 32 for rotational adjustment through means not shown, and which has secured to its foremost end a minute hand 34. Rotatably surrounding the minutehand shaft 33 is a tubular hour-hand shaft 35 to the forward end of which is affixed the hour-hand 21, positioned behind the minute hand 34. Rotatably surrounding hourshaft 35 in turn is an alarm-pointer sleeve 13 to the foremost end of which is afixed an alarm-pointer 1Q, positioned behind the hour hand 21. Part of a conventional clock movement for rotating the minute-hand shaft 34 is shown as including a pinion 36 secured to shaft 34 adjacent to rear casing plate 36 and a large-diameter gear 37 meshing with the pinion, and supported for rotation in the casing on a pivot 38. Since the remaining portions of the clock mechanism may be entirely conventional they are not shown or described herein.

The alarm mechanism of the invention comprises a socalled control plate or disc 3 which is coaxially secured to the rear end of the sleeve 13 and which, as shown in FIG. 3, is formed with a segmental arcuate slot or aperture .5. Mounted on the forwardly directed face. 3b of control plate 3 by means ofrivets 7 and 8 is a resilient contact strip 6 having secured to its free end an electric contact 9 directed away from the disc surface 3b. The spring strip 6 is arranged to be normally biased by its own resiliency to a position where it lies fiat against the surface 3b of disc 3, in which position the rearwardly projecting end of contact 9 is received in a recess of plate or disc 3 as is apparent in FIG. 2. It will be noted from tioned to indicate the selected time on the clock dial.

it} of contact strip 6 protrudes.

FIG. 3 that the strip 6 is formed with a cut-out portion positioned somewhat inward of the contact 9 and including an edge It) extending radially with respect to the disc 3, the edge It) being so positioned that it extends parallel to and overlaps one of the radial side edges of segmental slot 5, extending a short distance inwards of the slot.

Secured to the rear end of hour-hand shaft 35 which protrudes beyond the rear end of sleeve 13 is a so-called hour-disc or plate member 1 positioned rearward of control plate member 3. The hour plate ll has a lug 2 punched out in it so as to protrude forwardly towards the control plate 3. The tubular hour shaft 35 is axially slidable with respect to both the minute shaft 33 and the alarm pointer sleeve 13, and is spring-biassed towards its forward position as shown in full lines in FIG. 1 by a leaf spring 4 having one end anchored to the clock casing through means not shown and its free end engaging the rear end of shaft 35. However, the hour shaft 35 is normally prevented from being moved to its forward (full-line) position under the action of spring 4, owing to the abutment of lug 2 against the face 3a of control plate 3, and is thus retained in its rear position, shown in broken lines.

Fixedly secured in the clock casing ehind the front plate 31 and spaced therefrom by an electrically insulating spacer ring 12, is an annular disc 11 of electrically conductive material formed with a wide central opening surrounding sleeve 13 with substantial radial clearance. A washer 15 of insulating material is seated on one side against a shoulder 14 formed on the sleeve 13 and bears with its other. surface against the inner periphery of disc 11 which has substantial resiliency so as to be forced to a slightly deformed state by the pressure of Washer 15 as shown. The sleeve 13 is further formed with an annular groove 17 in its outer surface just in front of the front casing plate or panel 31, and a conductive O-ring or clip 18 is inserted into the groove and bears with its rear surface against the front face of casing plate 31 thereby providing electrical connection from the control ring 3 through the sleeve 13 and ring 18 to the casing plate 31 constituting a ground return for the electric circuit presently described, the efficiency of the electric contact between ring 18 and plate 31 being ensured by the aforementioned pressure engagement of annular disc 11 against insulating washer 15.

The alarm mechanism described operates as follows: when the user wishes to set the alarm pointer 19 to a selected hour at which the alarm is to sound, he rotates the sleeve 13 through a conventional alarm setting mechanism and control, not shown, until the alarm pointer 19 is posithis action the control plate 3 is rotated with sleeves 13 until its segmental slot 5 is positioned at a certain angular setting relative to the clock casing corresponding to the selected setting of pointer 19. It will be understood that at this time the slidable assembly including hour hand 21, tubular shaft 35, hour disc ii and its lug 2 are forced to their right-hand position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 in opposition to leaf spring 4 deformed to the dotted-line position, so that the tip of lug 2 rides along the surface 3a of control disc 3, said assembly being retained in that position by the resiliency of leaf spring 4. Thereafter with the passing of the time the hour hand 21 and with it the hour plate 1 rotate and when the present time has arrived so that the lug 2 projecting from the hour plate 1 has in turn reached the same angular setting, its free end registers with the radial edge of slot 5 at which the edge At this instant the lug 2 is able to drop into the slot 5 so that the afore-mentioned slidable assembly is instantly snapped by the force of spring 4 to the leftward position shown in full lines, and in this movement the tip of lug Z acting on the edge portion it) of strip 6 protruding into the slot 5, urges the strip 6 leftwardly from the position shown in broken lines to the position shown in full lines, wherein its contact 9 an gages the surface of disc 11. A conductive path is now d established from casing plate 31 through ring 18, sleeve 13, control plate 3, contact strip 6 and contact 9 to the conductor disc 11, completing an external electric circuit, not shown, which may include e.g. a D.-C. battery and a buzzer or other conventional electrical alarm circuit, and the alarm is therefore sounded.

T he hour hand 21, shaft 35 and hour plate 1 of course continue to revolve bodily at a constant rate with time, so that presently the tip of lug 2 moves beyond the protruding edge it) of the contact strip 6, allowing the strip to be restored by its own elasticity to the flattened position shown in MG. 2, disengaging contact 9 from disc 11 and breaking the alarm circuit. It will thus be seen that the time during which the alarm will be sounded is determined by the extent to which the edge portion 10 of contact strip 6 projects or overlapsinto the slot 5, and this can be accurately and conveniently preset. In particular, it is possible to preset the duration of the alarm to a suitable, relatively short time, of the order of a few seconds, suflicient for most practical purposes, while minimizing the consumption of electric power and hence prolonging the service life of a dry cell battery which may constitute the source of energy of the alarm circuit. a

it will be understood that various changes may be made in the mechanism illustrated and described without departing from the scope of the invention. Various more or less conventional expedi nts may be added thereto as will be apparent to those skilled in the arts involved. Thus, a switch may desirably be inserted in the alarm circuit operable by the user to discontinue the alarm even before its normal expiration period. The same, or a simiiar switch may also be used to allow the user to disable the alarm circuit in advance when it is not desired that the alarm shall sound. The provision of such an advancedisabling switch is especially useful of course in cases where, as in the embodiment shown, the hour disc 1 revolves bodily with the hour hand and hence performs one revolution per twelve hours. It will be understood that the clockwork movement of the timing mechanism may be powered by any suitable means, mechanical or electrical.

What l claim is:

1. Timing and alarm mechanism comprising in combination a casing; an hour plate member and a control plate member and means mounting said members for coaxial rotation with respect to each other and to said casing and for limited relative axial displacement; means driving said hour member at a uniform angular velocity as a function of time; means for manually presetting said control member to a desired angular position at which an alarm is to sound; spring means biassing said members axially toward each other; a projection extending axially from one of said members into engagement with a side surface of the other member for riding over said surface as said hour member revolves with time; an aperture formed in said other member in a position to receive said projection of said one member on said hour member being rotated to a position corresponding to the preset position of the control member; a spring strip secured to the opposite side of said other member andhaving an edge portion overlapping a generally radial edge surface of said aperture a small predeterminable circumferential distance into the aperture, said strip being normally spring biassed axially towards said other member under a force less than that of said spring means whereby to be displaceable away from said other member by the action of said projection upon said overlapping edge portion as said projection is received into said aperture; an electric contact carried by said strip; an annular contact element carried by said casing coaxially with said members for engage ber reaches said position corresponding to the preset position of the control member and will be deenergized on expiry of a time lapse determined by the distance of overlap of said edge portion of said other member with respect to said edge surface of the aperture.

2. The mechanism claimed in claim 1 wherein said one member constitutes said hour member and said other member constitutes the control member.

3. In an alarm clock having a casing, an hour shaft rotatable with respect to said casing as a function of the time of day, and a control shaft coaxial with the hour shaft and manually presettable to a selected angular position corresponding to a time at which an alarm is to sound, alarm mechanism comprising: an hour plate member secured for rotation with the hour shaft and a control plate member secured for rotation with the control shaft; means mounting the hour member for limited axial displacement towards and way from the control member and spring means biassing the hour member towards the control member; a projection extending axially from the hour member into engagement with a side surface of the control member for riding over said surface as the hour member revolves; an aperture formed in the control member to receive said projection on the hour member being rotated to a position corresponding to said preset time; a spring strip secured to the opposite side of said control member and having an edge portion overlapping a radial edge of said aperture a small predeterminable circumferential distance into said aperture, said strip being normally biassed axially towards said control member under a force less than that of said spring means whereby to be displaceable away from said control member by the action of said projection upon said overlapping edge portion as said projection is received into said aperture; an electric contact carried by said strip; an annular contact element carried by said casing coaxially with said shafts for engagement by said strip contact in the displaced position of the strip; and an alarm circuit including a source of electric power and an alarm device connected to said source and to said contacts so as to be energized on engagement of said contacts; whereby the alarm device will be energized as said hour member reaches said preset position and will be deenergized on expiry of a time lapse determined by said distance of overlap.

4. The mechanism claimed in claim 1, wherein said strip is mounted for pivotal adjustment on said other member for varying the distance of overlap between said strip edge portion and said radial aperture edge.

5. The mechanism claimed in claim 3, wherein said control shaft is a tubular shaft surrounding the hour shaft, said plate members are secured to adjacent end portions of the related shafts, and said hour shaft with said hour plate member is bodily displaceable axially with respect to said surrounding control shaft and control plate member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 478,155 7/92 Darche 58-20 1,589,211 6/26 Newth et a1. 58--23 LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 192, 700 July 6, 1965 Marc Walter It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, line 62, strike out "the", second occurrence; line 63 for "present read preset (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer 

1. TIMING AND ALARM MECHANISM COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A CASING; AN HOUR PLATE MEMBER AND A CONTROL PLATE MEMBER AND MEANS MOUNTING SAID MEMBERS FOR COAXIAL ROTATION WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER AND TO SAID CASING AND FOR LIMITED RELATIVE AXIAL DISPLACEMENT; MEANS DRIVING SAID HOUR MEMBER AT A UNIFORM ANGULAR VELOCITY AS A FUNCTION OF TIME; MEANS FOR MANUALLY PRESETTING SAID CONTROL MEMBER TO A DESIRED ANGULAR POSITION AT WHICH AN ALARM IS TO SOUND; SPRING MEANS BIASSING SAID MEMBERS AXIALLY TOWARD EACH OTHER; A PROJECTION EXTENDING AXIALLY FROM ONE OF SAID MEMBERS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH A SIDE SURFACE OF THE OTHER MEMBER FOR RIDING OVER SAID SURFACE AS SAID HOUR MEMBER REVOLVES WITH TIME; AN APERTURE FORMED IN SAID OTHER MEMBER IN A POSITION TO RECEIVE SAID PROJECTION OF SAID ONE MEMBER ON SAID HOUR MEMBER BEING ROTATED TO A POSITION CORRESPONDING TO THE PRESET POSITION OF THE CONTROL MEMBER; A SPRING STRIP SECURED TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID OTHER MEMBER AND HAVING AN EDGE PORTION OVERLAPPING A GENERALLY RADIAL EDGE SURFACE OF SAID APERTURE A SMALL PREDETERMINABLE CIRCUMFERENTIAL DISTANCE INTO THE APERTURE, SAID STRIP BEING NORMALLY SPRING BIASSED AXIALLY TOWARDS SAID OTHER MEMBER UNDER A FORCE LESS THAN THAT OF SAID SPRING MEANS WHEREBY TO BE DISPLACEABLE WITH FROM SAID OTHER MEMBER BY THE ACTION OF SAID PROJECTION UPON SAID OVERLAPPING EDGE PORTION AS SAID PROJECTION IS RECEIVED INTO SAID APERTURE; AN ELECTRIC CONTACT CARRIED BY SAID STRIP; AN ANNULAR CONTACT ELEMENT CARRIED BY SAID CASING COAXIALLY WITH SAID MEMBERS FOR ENGAGEMENT BY SAID STRIP CONTACT IN THE DISPLACED POSITION OF THE STRIP; AND AN ALARM CIRCUIT INCLUDING A SOURCE OF ELECTRIC POWER AND AN ALARM SIGNAL DEVICE CONNECTED TO SAID SOURCE AND TO SAID CONTACTS SO AS TO BE ENERGIZED FROM SAID SOURCE ON ENGAGEMENT TO SAID CONTACT; WHEREBY THE ALARM SIGNAL DEVICE WILL BE ENERGIZED AS SAID HOUR MEMBER REACHES SAID POSITION CORRESPONDING TO THE PRESET POSITION OF THE CONTROL MEMBER AND WILL BE DEENGERGIZED ON EXPIRY OF A TIME LAPSE DETERMINED BY THE DISTANCE OF OVERLAP OF SAID EDGE PORTION OF SAID OTHER MEMBER WITH RESPECT TO SAID EDGE SURFACE OF THE APERTURE. 